The present invention relates generally to rewards programs and more specifically to the tracking of users and the rewarding of users based upon tracked behavior.
Many internet search engines generate revenue by selling advertising space to advertisers that wish to provide advertising relevant to specific key word search terms or that wish to target specific keywords on a broad content network or target specific sites or target a specific audience. In many instances, competition for advertising space is resolved by the search engine operator auctioning key word advertising or site-targeted advertising or context-targeted advertising to the highest bidder. The amount of revenue generated by a search engine is typically proportional to the number of impressions (i.e., number of people to whom the advertising was shown) and/or the number of click-throughs (i.e., the number of people that visited the advertiser's web page in response to the advertisement) and/or the number of people who take a specific action (such as complete a form or initiate a call or sign-up for a service or execute a transaction or buy some good or service) and/or the total value of transactions conducted by users as a result of the advertisement or promotion or offer from the search engine or its content network partners or advertising partners or advertisers or combinations thereof.
Content providers can attempt to increase advertising revenue by providing advertising relevant to the content provided. In many instances, the advertising is provided by third parties that use tools to determine the nature of the content offered by a content provider and match the advertising to the content.
Mobile devices are increasingly being used to view content. Therefore, mobile devices are also becoming devices that can be used to distribute advertising. The increasing functionality of mobile devices is also leading a number of mobile network operators to contemplate providing transaction services in addition to voice and data services. Transaction services can include enabling users to subscribe to services offered by the mobile network operator, subscribing to services offered by third parties, purchasing goods, making payments via financial accounts or other payment technique, and/or other types of transactions.